Shosan Victoria Austin is an international Soto Zen priest that serves the San Francisco Zen Center sangha as a Dharma teacher, previously fulfilling the roles of Work Leader, Tenzo, Tanto, and President. Victoria is also a certified Senior Intermediate teacher within the Iyengar Yoga tradition.

We talk about participating in abbot stepping up and down ceremonies, the differences between guilt and responsibility, Iyengar Yoga, developing and providing accessible zazen postures for all bodies, viewing the body as organized by committee, and acting on what you feel is true and needed.

Rev. Kodai Haga (Sen) leads the Rinzai Zen Mission, which is based in Paia, Maui.

We talk about surfing as a way of becoming one with nature, visiting other temples and traditions within the Hawaiian Buddhist temple network, growing up in a temple family and reconnecting with Buddhism after college, monastic training at Enkaku-ji and koan study, "moonbows" and pig feet stew, and the question of how to teach Japanese Buddhism in an American context.

So-on Eli Brown-Stevenson is a resident priest at the San Francisco Zen Center and serves as the Director of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging for the City Center, Green Gulch Farm, and Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Eli also teaches mindfulness to BIPOC grade school children and regularly instructs at SFZC's Young Urban Zen.

We discuss learning more about what it is to be human through a deep cleaning of the kitchen at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the importance of finding a teacher that resonates with you, jukai and embodying the precepts, the heart-mind of children, male identity and emotional health, and letting curiosity be your guide.

Josan Janis Cooke Newman is the author of the memoir, The Russian Word for Snow, and two novels: Mary; Mrs. A. Lincoln and A Master Plan for Rescue. Janis also teaches creative writing, offering courses like Writing and Mindfulness: Cultivating a Daily Practice through the San Francisco Zen Center, and founded Lit Camp, a writer's conference that takes place at the Esalen Institute. Janis also founded Creative Caffeine Daily, an online writing community.

We talk about memoir writing and Zen, being a ‘baby Buddhist,’ the joyful experience of sewing a rakusu, the impact of taking lay ordination precepts, viewing mornings as a creative, liminal space, and approaching haikus as a Zen writing practice.

Shodhin Geiman, PhD, serves as abbot of the Chicago Zen Center and as Senior Research Professor at Valparaiso University. Shodhin is the author of Alone in a World of Wounds: A Dharmic Response to the Ills of Sentient Beings as well as Obstacles to Stillness: Thoughts, Hindrances, and Self-Surrender in Evagrius and the Buddha.

We discuss 'Midwestern Zen,' Chicago Zen Center’s 50th anniversary, the fundamental role of dokusan in Zen practice, and viewing the bodhisattva vows from a place of egolessness.

Jaune Evans is a Soto Zen priest and senior teacher at the Everyday Zen Foundation. Jaune also serves as guiding teacher of the Heart of Compassion Zen Sangha in Point Reyes, California.

We talk about exploring light and air as photography subjects, early experiences with the White Plum Asanga, developing a connection with the Everyday Zen Foundation and teacher Zoketsu Norman Fischer, Issan Dorsey's beautiful heart, and how her work during the AIDS epidemic and her work with indigenous American communities has impacted her practice.

Shinkō Andreas Hagn is a Soto Zen priest, who serves the Daijihi Soto Zen Sangha in Vienna, Austria. Shinkō also operates two businesses: Plantago and Shinkoko – Fine things from Japan. See below for links to their respective websites as well as Shinkō's personal website.

Natalie Fisk Quli, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Theravada Buddhist Studies at the Institute of Buddhist Studies. Dr. Quli also serves as Senior Editor of Pacific World: Journal of the Institute of Buddhist Studies and is a member of its Editorial Committee. Dr. Quli is also Assistant Editor for the International Association of Shin Buddhist Studies's journal, The Pure Land: Journal of Pure Land Buddhism.

We discuss bipolar II disorder's impact on research and scholarship, identifying as "Buddh-ish," the major influence of power and power dynamics in the shaping of Buddhist sanghas in America, the complexity of new age spiritual movements and their inclusions/appropriations of Buddhism, and the differences between male and female Buddhist convert paths towards monasticism within American Theravada communities.

Rev. Dr. Carmela Javellana Hirano serves the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple as a minister and is an integrative psychiatrist and founder of Sanctuary for Healing and Integration (SHIN).

Som Pourfarzaneh, PhD, is the Associate Professor of Islamic and Digital Media Studies and Director of the Center for Multi-Religious Studies at Starr King School for the Ministry.

We talk about the dietary and spiritual impact of adopting a dog, identifying as a Muslim and a Buddhist, developing a connection to the Dharma Drum tradition and the Tallahassee Chan Center, spiritual wrestling, and how martial arts serves and also differs from Buddhist approaches to meditation.